Daniel f



(No Model.)

41 311. MILLER. MACHINE FOR FINISHING TWISTED STA'VES.-

Patented Nov. 21, 1.

i V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL F. MILLER, OF SOMERSET, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGEV. FRAZIER, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FORFINISHING TWVISTEVD STAVES.

V p I; SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 509,233, datedNovember 21, 1893.

Applioationfiled August 14, 1893. Serial No. 483,046- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL F. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Somerset, Pulaski county, State of Kentucky, haveinvented a certain new and useful Machine for Finishing Twisted Staves;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled'in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, attention beingcalled to the accompanying drawings, with the reference-numerals markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to one of a class of machines used for dressingand shaping staves, such as are required in the manufacture of kegs,barrels and other similar cooper: age. Staves of this kind are dressedon both sides, they are curved on a line which corresponds with theperiphery of the particular size of the vessel for which they areintended and finally they are cut out between the ends to facilitatetheir bending, the thicker portions remaining being needed to obtain therequired thickness to permit the croze10r groove to be cut in whichreceives the heads. These different attributes are imparted to thestaves by various methods and machines. Some of these latter do all therequired work at once, while others do only a part of it and in whichlatter case the staves have to be operated upon repeatedly.

My invention relates to that class of machines which cut out the stavesbetween their ends, the dressing and curving being done previously byother machines, mostly by socalled stave-buckers. In these last namedmachines the staves are forced end wise through between two knives setso close to,- gether that the former are at once dressed and reduced totheir proper thickness, receiving at the same time the required curve byreason of a corresponding curve in the knives.

The particular manner in which the knives of these machines act upon thewood, causes the cut to follow the grain, so that the staves assume allthe irregularities and twists of the wood, while otherwise having theproper thickness and curvature. The finishing of such twisted staves,that is the reduction of others will be farther away or perhapsaltogeth-er out of reach. This results in an uneven reduction of thestaves, which by reason of the excessive loss on some partsbecome sothin and weakened as to be useless. No attempt is therefore made topasssuch staves through a stave-dresser or finisher, and they are at oncethrown aside, either as waste, or to be worked by hand. Either disposalis of course objectionable. The one is a total loss, while the otheradds to the expenses the difference between hand-labor and machine work.To overcome these objections and to make it possible tofinish suchirregular staves by machinery, special machines have been devised and myinvention relates, therefore more particularly to machines for.finishing such twisted staves. While the machine which exemplifies myinvention is constructed with a view to adapt it to do such specialwork, it is not limitedthereto. andtakes the regularly formed stavesequally as. well. It should be understood that such irregularv ortwisted staves, if properly finished, may equally as well be used forcooper-age as the straight ones, because, all staves, before set up forkegs, or barrels, pass through a bending-process which corrects allirregularities.

In the following specification and particularly pointed out in theclaims, is found a full description of my invention, its parts,operation, and construction, the latter being also illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which'v Figures 1, and 2, show two forms oftwisted, or irregular staves, the latter one as it appears after beingfinished. Fig. 3, is a vertical, cross-section of the machine and Fig.4, is an elevation of the same. Fig. 5, is a sectional detail-view.

8, are the staves and when received by this machine are in a conditionas shown in Fig. 1, that is they are dressed on both sides and curvedtransversely, l

The finishing which this machine is to do,

consists of reducing the thickness of the staves midway, whereby thethicker ends 9, are produced, as shown in Fig. 2. For this purpose, thestaves are placed upon a feedtable 10, from which they are taken by twofingers 11, projecting inwardly opposite each other from two endlessfeed-chains 12. These chains are driven by two sprocket-wheels 13, on ashaft 14 around which they pass below and at their other end they passaround curved guides 15, provided with flanges 16, to confine the chainsin position thereon. The curve of these guides corresponds with the oneof the staves, being a part of the circle which constitutes theperiphery of the vessel for which the staves are intended. They aresecured in asuitable manner to the inside of the two frame-sections 17,17, by which all parts of this machine are supported.

Below the guides and supported in bearings on the frame-sections is ashaft 18, which carries a cutter-head 19, with knives 20, and is rotatedby a suitable belt-pulley 21. -The knives 20, are set out far enough toproduce the required reduction in the thickness of the staves and areshorter than these latter to leave their ends intact.

Above guides 15, and supported on a beam 22, which rests on top of theframe sections, reaching from one to the other, are what may be termedcurbs 23, the office of which is to hold, while the knives act uponthem, the staves in position on the inner one of the flanges 16, ofguides 15, on which the staves travel after leaving the feed-table.Excepting near the front-end, the under-surfaces of these curbs, whichcome in contact with the staves, are concentric with the guides andtheir flanges and extend sufficiently forward and rearward of thecutter-head, to secure a complete hold for the staves during the timethey are passing within reach of the knives. The distance, or spacebetween the concentric surfaces of these curbs and the guides below,through which the ends of the staves pass, corresponds with thethickness of these latter and the curbs and guides being exactly in thesame position and at the same height opposite each other, it followsthat the ends of the staves must assume a similar position while passingthrough this space. A straight stave with its ends in line, whilepassing through this space will be held by the curbs in position on theflanges of the guides and on fingers 11, during the finishing process.On a twisted stave, with its ends not in line, the action will besimilar as far as holding in position is concerned, but in addition tothat, the stave will be temporarily straightened and its ends broughtinto line with each other and held so by the guides and curbs on eachside. This enables the knives of the cutter-head to reach evenly intothe wood at all points of the stave, whereby the reduction becomesequal, which otherwise would not be the case. The front-ends of thesecurbs where the staves pass first under, are not concentric with theguides below but turned upas shown, to facilitate the passing under ofirregular staves. An additional device or curb 24, similar to the onesindicated by 23, is provided midway between these others and supportedin the same manner. It assists the others in their action and alsoserves to hold the middle part of the staves downjagainst the knives incases where they are of a shape as shown in Fig. 2. By means of screws25, beam 22, may be raised or lowered on the frame-sections 17,wherebythe curbs supported thereon are similarly affected and the space betweenthese latter and the guides is adjusted to conform to the thickness ofthe staves.

To adjust the machine for the different lengths of staves, it is myintention to move one of the frame-sections, preferably the left one outor in on the sills 26, supporting them. This carries the adjacent one ofthe feedchains with it and the space between them is accordinglyregulated. Knives of different lengths may be attached to thecutter-head to adjust the part of the stave to be reducedcorrespondingly. The curbs have flanges 27, whereby they rest on flanges28, of beam 22, and are capable of sliding thereon for lateraladjustment in cases where the frame is moved to change the width of themachine. They are provided with set-screws 29, to hold them in position.

The feed-chains may be driven in any suitable manner. In this case shaft14, carries a gear-wheel 30, which is driven by a pinion 31, on a shaft32. This latter has a gear-wheel 33, and is driven by a pinion 34, on ashaft 35. A belt-pulley 36, transmits the power from the motor.

37, is a loose pulley and 38, a belt-shifter whereby the feed-mechanismmay be stopped.

39, are tie-rods, passing from one frame-section to the other for thepurpose of increasing the stability of the machine.

Having described my invention, I claim as new- 1. In a machine forfinishing twisted staves, the combination of two inclined endlessfeedchains parallel with each other lateral proj ections 11, on themwhich elevate the staves and support them between the chains, means toactuate these latter, a feed-table curved, guides 15, around which thechains draw the staves the ends of which rest on these guides, a rotarycutter-head below the guides and means to hold the staves to guides 15while passing within reach of the cutter-head.

2. In a machine for finishing twisted staves, the combination of twoinclined endless feedchains, parallel with each other, means to actuatethem, a feed-table between them on which the staves are deposited,curved guides 15, with flanges 16, over which the ends of the staves,pass lateral projections 11, on these chains on which between theselatter the staves are carried from the feed-table to and around flanges16 on which the ends of the staves rest, curbs 23, which hold the endsof cutter-head below them, an additional curb between the others to holdthe middle-portion of the staves down to within reach of the I 5 knivesof the cutter-head and a beam 22, on which these curbs are supported.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL F. MILLER.

Witnesses:

J. E. GIRDLIN, J OHN INMAN.

